Newsletters20110627

Hi Everyone

If you read this in time, do go to hear Chris Southall talking about Urban Self-reliance tonight! And on Saturday you are spoilt for choice, with our regular Grow Your Own Session and our exciting new Cambridge SkillsFest!

CONTENTS

Transition News and Events

  •   Tuesday 28 June: Energy Group Meeting
  •   Saturday 02 July: Cambridge SkillsFest
  •   Saturday 02 July: Grow Your Own Session in Trumpington
  •   Tuesday 05 July: Draught Proofing and Ventilation
  •   Thursday 07 July: Transition Cafe: Working on organic farms (WWOOF)
  •   Friday 8th - Monday 11th July: Transition Network Annual Conference
  •   Calendar of events

Other News and Events

  •   Monday 27 June: Chris Southall, Urban Self Reliance
  •   Tuesday 28 June: Conference: Gale Force - Offshore Wind Power
  • Wednesday 29 June: Romsey Green Spaces Walk – Vinery Road to Burnside
  •   Thursday 30 June: Community Enterprise Now!
  •   Monday 04 July: Syriana (film showing)
  •   Wednesday 06 July: HOME by Yann Arthus-Bertrand - film screening and discussion
  •   Friday 8th (evening) - Sunday 10th July: Introduction to Permaculture weekend course
  • Saturday 16 July: Zero Carbon Britain day – local organisers wanted now
  • Alternative newspaper for Cambridge – contributors wanted

Transition News and Events

Tuesday 28 June: Energy Group Meeting

20:00-21:30, ** Change of venue: Judith's House (Leys Road)**

This will be the last meeting before the forum on Draught management and MVHR. Contact Nicola for details of venue.

Saturday 02 July: Cambridge SkillsFest

14:00-17:00, Ross Street Community Centre, Ross Street, off Mill Road At this skills-fest, you can learn how to fix your bike, make chutney and mend your clothes amongst many other things... There'll be a clothes and jewellery space, with spinning, knitting, crochet, clothes making, cloth bags and jewellery from recycled tin cans; a bike repair area where you can learn basic bike maintenance and repair skills; a cooking area with workshops on yogurt making (2pm), sprouting (2:30), vegan cookery (3pm) and jam and chutney making (4pm); and a workshop space, with sessions on chicken keeping (2pm), growing your own veg (3pm) and herbal medicine (4pm). There'll also be a cafe with delicious cakes, and there'll be a storytelling session for the children at 3pm with local storyteller, Rowan Wylie. We hope you can come, and bring your friends! Full details here and here's a poster if you could put one up somewhere - thanks! This event is organised jointly with Cambridge Carbon Footprint.

Saturday 02 July: Grow Your Own Session in Trumpington

10:00-13:00, Trumpington allotments

Join experienced allotmenteer Dave Fox on his plot in Trumpington. Get stuck in as we plant, nurture and harvest veg and fruit. This is the fifth of several sessions ideal for novices and people with any amount of practical growing experience - it's more of a mutual sharing than a lesson! If you'd like to join in, see our web-page here, and book soon as spaces are limited.

Tuesday 05 July: Draught Proofing and Ventilation

19:30-21:30, St. Lukes United Reform Church, Victoria Road, Cambridge CB4 3DZ (parking available)

This forum will be all about how to draught proof your home - and how to make sure it is well ventilated without wasting energy. Keeping to our previously successful format there will be lots of time for questions and there will be experienced householders on the panel as well as experts for you to quiz. More details here.

Thursday 07 July: Transition Cafe: Working on organic farms (WWOOF)

19:30-22:00, The Cafe Project, 22 Jesus Lane

WWOOFing (World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) is a great way of spending time on an organic farm, either in the UK or abroad. You get to learn more about organic agriculture, and lots of people do this as an alternative-style holiday. Come and hear people's experiences of WWOOFing and hosting WWOOFers, or have a look at the WWOOF web-site here. The cafe will open from 7:30pm, and the discussion on WWOOFing will start at 8pm. There'll be tea, cakes and biscuits! All welcome, free.

Friday 8th - Monday 11th July: Transition Network Annual Conference

19:00-19:00, Hope University, Liverpool

This year's Transition conference will be in Liverpool and bookings are now open! The conference is a great opportunity to meet with other Transitioners taking this challenging journey, to delve deeper into the areas that interest you most, and to gain new skills that will serve you and your initiative well over the coming years. Full info and booking information is available here, and this year, kids are welcome too! (Book soon as last year it got booked out quite quickly. If you'd like to go with others from Cambridge, get in touch and we can try to travel there together.)

Calendar of events

-  Saturday 16 July: London Permaculture Festival

-  Wednesday 19 October: The Turning Point

Related News and Events

Monday 27 June: Chris Southall, Urban Self Reliance

19:30-19:30, Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane

Chris Southall is just the man to inspire us get going on the eco-DIY during the summer. In just a few years, with a minimal budget and using mainly recycled

materials and DIY, Chris has transformed a very ordinary house in Clactonon Sea into an inspiring, comfortable and economical eco-home. They grow much of their own food in a garden based on permacultureprinciples, while insulation, solar panels and a wood burning stove haveallowed them to reduce their energy consumption by 76%.

We'll probably go to the Maypole pub afterwards. Cost £5 More details here.

Tuesday 28 June: Conference: Gale Force - Offshore Wind Power

09:00-18:00, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DZ

Electricity generation accounts for one third of all carbon emissions in the UK. Reducing emissions by increasing the amount of renewable energy sources is therefore essential to achieve a significant reduction in the UK's carbon emissions and reach the European 2020 energy goals. One good source is offshore wind power, considering the abundance of windy stretches along the British coastline. Recent developments have already made the UK the world's largest producer of offshore wind power, but we still lag behind the proposed targets and its estimated potential. Speakers and delegates from many of the world’s leading energy and technology companies and academic institutions will be present, with opportunities to network over coffee and lunch breaks during the day. Full information here including speakers, ticket prices and booking. Organised by the Cambridge University Energy Network (CUEN), a student-run society at the University of Cambridge.

Wednesday 29 June: Romsey Green Spaces Walk – Vinery Road to Burnside

7:00pm – 9:00pm, Meet at Vinery Road entrance to Romsey Rec at 7pm Neighbourhood Trees and Wildlife Walk led by Keith Jordan. Seek out the huge variety of trees wildlife living around some of the streets and green spaces of Romsey.  Pass the lime trees and Turkish hazel of Vinery Road, silver maples and hornbeam of Seymour Street and cappadocian and field maples of Wycliffe Road, to name a few trees.  Then follow Cherry Hinton Brook to Burnside where many bats, waterside birds, amphibians and plants have made home.  Explore how drought and climate change may be affecting our local wildlife. All welcome, just turn up.  Tel. 01223 471674.

Thursday 30 June: Community Enterprise Now!

10:00-16:00, Great Barton Village Hall, near Bury St Edmunds

A Co-operative Community Enterprise all-day conference, part of the Co-operatives Fortnight event, this year under the theme "Yours to Share". The purpose of this conference is to demonstrate Big Society/community engagement in action by showcasing successful community enterprises, including community run shops, pubs, credit unions and sports supporters associations, and to show you where to get support and to offer practical advice to attendees, with as much focus on Co-ops as possible. Workshops will focus on 4 key themes: Finance, Legal Structures, Community Consultations, Marketing. The keynote speaker will be Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation. The conference is for anybody engaging in a community enterprise, whether you're thinking about it, setting one up, running or extending one, and also for those those interested in the model (Local Authorities, Parish Councils, County Councils, community organisations). Full programme and booking form will be coming to the Co-ops EAST website. Contact Gemma Sayers for more info.

Monday 04 July: Syriana (film showing)

18:00-20:00, Cambridge Arts Picturehouse cinema

Syriana (2005) is a politically-charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved and affected by it. It is directed by Stephen Gaghan and stars George Clooney, Matt Damon and Amanda Peet. Before the screening Nicola Terry (member of the TC energy group) will speak about the controversial issue of oil dependency, and after the film there will be an informal Q&A session in the cinema mezzanine with free nibbles.

This film show is part of sciscreen, a new film festival at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse organised by the British Science Association Cambridgeshire branch.

More details here.

Wednesday 06 July: HOME by Yann Arthus-Bertrand - film screening and discussion

19:30-21:30, Brackenbury Room, Impington Village College, New Road, Impington, CB24 9LX

A chance to see exquisite aerial views of the earth in all of their glory. This beautiful film shows just how delicate the web of life on our earth is. Yves Arthus-Bertrand is a master photographer, known around the world for his best selling books. The film shows how our over-consumption is tragically destroying our world, but also how we can change things to build a better future. Film followed by refreshments, home-made cakes and a discussion - Free Admission. More details here.

Friday 8th (evening) - Sunday 10th July: Introduction to Permaculture weekend course

19:30-19:30, Cambridge Sustainability Centre, Fen End Farm, Cottenham (CB24 8UP)

Permaculture is a design system for sustainable human habitats, and can be practised on any scale, from a windowbox to a farm to a whole settlement. This course will give you a grounding in the basics of permaculture principles and ethics, and how to apply these in a variety of settings, such as gardening, farming, building, community work or simply greener living. More details here.

Saturday 16 July: Zero Carbon Britain day – local organisers wanted now

Various events are being organised around the country promoting Zero Carbon Britain by 2030. See here for more details. They are particularly interested in people wanting to organise “Zero Carbon Britain or we’re in deep water” photo opportunities. See here for London beach party.

Alternative newspaper for Cambridge – contributors wanted

Cllr. Adam Pogonowski (Green Party) is looking for a team of writers, editors, reporters and designers to get involved in a collectively-run “new critical newspaper” for Cambridge to redress the current media perspective, which is overbalanced in favour of neoliberalism. Email him if you are interested in participating.

Campaign for better transport – volunteers needed

Casper ter Kuile is looking for local people to get involved in the Fairer Fares Campaign (better public transport).

Email Casper if you are interested.

A real variety of things this week and next! Enjoy the sunshine!

Bev

Our Mission

Transition Cambridge aims to help Cambridge make the transition to ways of life that are more resilient in the face of rising energy prices and a changing climate.

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